Ship navigation security of the inland waterways in Yamalo-Nenets National Area during the Great Patriotic War

The article is devoted to the issues of securing the inland waterways ship navigation in Yamalo-Nenets National Area during the Great Patriotic War. The main research objective is to analyze and generalize the work activity in securing ship navigation in Yamalo-Nenets National Area on the basis of the official records from the State Archive of Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. This research is mainly based on such historical records as Northern hydrographic expedition trips operating reports of 1941-1943 and Salekhard technical waterway division operating reports of 1944-1945. In the period of summer navigation numerous rivers in the area became main traffic arteries for shipping cargoes, special settlers and relocatees from the zone of military operations into the area, mobilized troops out of the area. To secure water transportation the Irtysh waterways basin authority (WBA) organized three Northern hydrographic expedition trips in 1941-1943. Their basic tasks were to set up and maintain navigation marks on the shipping routes, conduct hydrographic research, collect data for updating navigation maps. In December 1943, to improve the maintenance of the used river waterways in Khanty-Mansi and Yamalo-Nenets National Areas, inland river waterways technical divisions in the Ob-Irtysh river basin were subdivided by orders of the USSR People's Commissariat for the River Fleet No. 334 and Irtysh WBA No. 16 dated February 21, 1944. The Salekhard technical waterway division in Yamalo-Nenets Area was established on the ground of the Northern hydrographic expedition trip. The improvement of the river waterways in Yamalo-Nenets National Area went simultaneously with the development of national economy. In 1941-1945, the length of the safe waterways routes in the area (provided with river railings and navigation marks) increased from 2 440 km to 4 318 km. There were 3 245 navigation marks in working condition including 131 riverside illuminated and 297 riverside non-illuminated, 82 floating illuminated and 2 735 floating non-illuminated navigation marks. At the same time hydrographic research was conducted. The collected information was reliable enough for making maps of the Ob and Taz Bays. Due to work of the members of the Northern hydrographic expedition by Irtysh WBA, and later the Salekhard technical waterway division of the Irtysh WBA, the conditions for safe river ship traffic were created in the area, in particular for ships transporting goods to the front and industrial centers of the country and carrying essential cargoes to the Arctic Area.

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